Friday, 10 July 2009

Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium

It is with very great pleasure that we present (finally!) the adventure of Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium.

Long in development by Robert Rodgers, Arcadia Snips has ventured into the light of day after much hard work. This is a great work, and I loved the initial manuscripts. Those who have seen deVorn in the various steampunk online forums over the past year will be aware of Arcadia!Arcadia Snips appears at an opportune time - members of the Smoking Lounge had recently been enquiring as to the state of affairs as to its author, as well as Arcadia herself. Personally, I have been looking forward to seeing the finished work, and am pleased that it has appeared, now with illustrations by Tod Wills.

Essentially, in the words of the author:

IN AN ERA of bygone anachronisms and steam-powered ambulatory engines, a sharp-witted street thief with a heart of semi-precious metal must match wits with a cryptic cryptozoologist, an amoral assassin, a masked menace, and a secret plot to bring the city she loves to its knees.

Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium is both a cautionary tale against reckless mathematics and an accurate historical account all rolled up into one. In fact, the story is so accurate that you might consider it more a history lecture than an illustrated novel.

Chapters are posted one by one every week on Monday until they’re all up; if you want to read the book before it’s completely online, stay tuned – we’ll soon be making a physical printed copy available for purchase.

The characters are incredibly well drawn, the plot well constructed, the world rich and deep, and the intelligent ideas come thick and fast whilst not overwhelming the story. If you enjoyed Stephen Hunt's Jackals novels, you will love this!

The book is being prepared for printing, and details concerning publication and how to order will be found here. In the interim, Arcadia Snips, while complete, as Mr Roberts indicates above, is being published weekly, each Monday, at http://arcadiasnips.com/. The first chapter may be found here.

I would urge you to take the opportunity to engage with the incredibly rich world of Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium, and wallow in the wonderful style of its author - amusing, clever, and thoroughly enjoyable!

Mr Rodgers is currently working on a more deiselpunk/noir novel, the first piece may be found here, and I look forward to more with relish!